Richmond Brian G, Wright Barth W, Grosse Ian, Dechow Paul C, Ross Callum F, Spencer Mark A, Strait David S
Center for the Advanced Study of Hominid Paleobiology, Department of Anthropology, George Washington University, Washington, District of Columbia 20052, USA.
Anat Rec A Discov Mol Cell Evol Biol. 2005 Apr;283(2):259-74. doi: 10.1002/ar.a.20169.
This article reviews the fundamental principles of the finite element method and the three basic steps (model creation, solution, and validation and interpretation) involved in using it to examine structural mechanics. Validation is a critical step in the analysis, without which researchers cannot evaluate the extent to which the model represents or is relevant to the real biological condition. We discuss the method's considerable potential as a tool to test biomechanical hypotheses, and major hurdles involved in doing so reliably, from the perspective of researchers interested in functional morphology and paleontology. We conclude with a case study to illustrate how researchers deal with many of the factors and assumptions involved in finite element analysis.
本文回顾了有限元方法的基本原理以及使用该方法研究结构力学所涉及的三个基本步骤（模型创建、求解以及验证与解释）。验证是分析过程中的关键步骤，没有它，研究人员就无法评估模型对真实生物学状况的表征程度或相关性。我们从对功能形态学和古生物学感兴趣的研究人员的角度，探讨了该方法作为检验生物力学假设工具的巨大潜力，以及可靠地做到这一点所涉及的主要障碍。我们通过一个案例研究来结束本文，以说明研究人员如何处理有限元分析中涉及的许多因素和假设。
